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Broken Tooth? Here’s What You Can Do?

Your New City, NY dentist shares the best way to treat a broken tooth to prevent further complications.

Even though our teeth are durable and strong, they aren’t impervious to damage. From direct trauma and cavities to biting down on something hard, there are a variety of ways to crack or break a tooth. Sometimes you may not even know when you have broken a tooth; however, the tooth can be sharp to the touch. If the break is bad enough you may experience pain, especially when chewing. If you are experiencing a broken or cracked tooth, here’s how to best handle it:

Cracked tooth

If you’ve cracked your tooth, there’s unfortunately nothing you can do from the comfort of your own home to fix the problem. The only way to treat a cracked or fractured tooth is by seeing your New City dentist. Even though the tooth may look normal, you may notice sensitivity to hot and cold or pain when chewing. If you are experiencing persistent pain then you may have even damaged a nerve. If pain appears every time you release your bite, then you have a cracked tooth that needs your attention.

Broken tooth

Just like with a cracked tooth, you need to see your New City, NY dentist right away if you have a broken tooth. Only we will be able to determine what the root cause of your break is so that we can treat the underlying problem. If there is damage to the nerve we will also perform a root canal to treat the damaged or infected pulp.

Here are some things you can do before coming to our office for treatment:

Rinse your mouth out with warm water

If your mouth is bleeding, apply pressure for about 10 minutes using gauze.

Use an ice pack over the affected area to keep swelling and pain to a minimum.

Opt for over-the-counter pain medication if you are experiencing any discomfort.

What Your New City Dentist Will do

Cracked tooth: If left untreated a crack can continue to spread. Some minor cracks can be repaired using the same resin we use to fill a cavity. However, most cracks will require that you cover the tooth with a crown to protect it from further damage. Small cracks may only need to be smoothed and polished.

Minor break: If the chewing surface of your tooth is the only part affected, then luckily the pulp and other internal structures are fine. Therefore, we will only repair damage to fix the tooth’s overall shape. However, this usually requires an onlay or dental crown.

Serious breaks: These fractures run all the way to the inner workings of the tooth, causing serious pain. This requires a root canal right away to help restore what’s left of the tooth.

If you are experiencing dental pain or think you fractured your tooth, then contact your New City, NY dentist at New City Family Dental today!